The Worst TV Ad You’ve Seen – and the Funniest One You Haven’t

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I don’t know about you, but I try not to watch any ads on television. My two time-tested tools to avoid them? My DVR and something that my girlfriend finds particularly annoying: flipping between two – sometimes three – shows at the same time.

But if you’re the commercial-watching type, you might be interested in the annual worst-commercial contest from blog The Consumerist. To check out the winners in various categories (examples: Most Grating Performance by a Human and Most Annoying Animated Spokesthing) check out the full article here. But if you simply want to see the overall winner of America’s worst commercial, here it is:

While that commercial is truly annoying, at least all it does is try to convince you that Staples is the place to save money. Which, to me at least, makes it relatively harmless compared to what I consider the absolute worst type of commercials: messages that subliminally attempt to convince you that using their product will make you look better, younger, thinner, cooler, more likely to attract the opposite sex – or just plain happier. In other words, commercials that either overtly or covertly suggest that you’re not OK the way you are and that you need to spend money to be liked or accepted. This is brain-washing of the worst sort and more often than not is responsible for spending money unnecessarily.

As you’re watching the boob-tube tonight, see if you can spot any – it won’t be hard – and tell us about them by leaving a comment below.

In the meantime, here’s a series of foreign commercials that I will guarantee will make you laugh out loud.

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